HICKORY HUTS. 197 



but three full-grown grubs is the most I have ever "found, 

 and the larger proportion examined had only one. This 

 girdling of the twig prevents the flow of sap, and the 

 leaves soon wither and drop ofE, and the bark and wood 

 shrivel and become hard and dry; but in the mean- 

 time the eggs have hatched and the minute grabs have 

 bored their way through the soft bark and reached the 

 pith, feeding in this ^hile acquiring size and strength 

 of jaws that will enable them to consume more solid 

 food later and during the succeeding winter, spring and 

 summer. Some do not reach maturity until the second 

 summer ; at least, in this latitude, as I have found after 

 very careful observation and while collecting many hun- 

 dreds of specimens. I will say, however, that this in- 

 sect is usually referred to by entomologists as rather 

 rare, and in general it is, but some years ago, in an old 

 clearing near by where there was a great number, of 

 young hickory seedlings and sprouts, it was for a season 

 or two very abundant ; then it suddenly disappeared, 

 and I have not taken a half-dozen specimens since. The 

 grubs bore out the wood in the infested twig, and in 

 most instances so completely as to leave only a thin shell 

 of the wood or bark, by the time they have reached ma- 

 turity and are ready to pass into their imago or perfect- 

 winged stage. 



This species of twig girdler also attacks the apple, 

 pear, persimmon, elm, and other kinds of trees, and 

 with those like the apple, with a soft and brittle wood, 

 thie girdled twigs are frequently broken off by the winds ; 

 but this rarely occurs with the hickories, and we can 

 usually find the stumps remaining on the trees years 

 after the beetles have emerged. The only way to keep 

 this pest in check is to cut off and burn the girdled 

 twigs any time before the larvae have reached maturity, 

 and as the girdled dead twigs are readily seen, the gath- 

 ering is not diflScnlt, from medium-sized trees. 



